Readily Available Compounds for Polishing to a Mirror Edge

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dzlvs8

Joined
Jun 13, 2013
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Alright, so first off, I just watched Jdavis's video where he polished a knife to a mirror edge with a ceramic stone ?!???????? So, I'm not even sure if I need a compound. But anyway, I use a Smiths Tri-Hone which has a coarse synthetic stone (unknown grit), a medium Arkansas stone (600 grit), and a fine Arkansas stone (1000) grit. After I'm done with that, I have a strop that I made, but I don't use any compound.

My edges look nice and obviously have no grind lines in them but they have a fairly satin finish on them.

What would be the next step to get a mirror polsih...can i do it just with my 1000 grit stone??? That would be awesome.

If not, is there any compound that i can pick up at Home Depot or an autozone or something that I can put on my strop that will generate a mirror polished bevel? I would like to use something readily available and I do not want to use power tools. Thats cheating.

Let me know, I'm bored today!
 
Depends on how perfect you want your mirror to be. I wouldnt touch anything from the hardware store. Personally i would add another couple stones to your progression. Like a 2k and 5k chosera. See if you like those edges. If you want to go further you can add the 10k chosera and a strop with some quality compound down the road.
 
One thing I will suggest is that you strop on an old leather belt. With or without a Auto glass buffing compound.
 
I used to strop with a belt but i recently made my own strop, which works better. I may look into the finer grit stones. I like that method. But I am curious of what type of compounds I can buy at the hard ware store or auto parts store that can go on a strop. I know that chrome car polish will polish the edge. I've used it for an entire knife blade but that was on a buffing wheel.

I don't know what types of compounds are ok to put on my strop (wont dry out, gunk up, etc.)
So far at the hardware store i founs stainless polish, white rouge and jewelers rouge, but all look to be for power buffing wheels.

Are any ok for a strop. Which is best. i heard the white rouge doesnt work unless at high speeds??
 
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Green rouge is probably the most popular. I bought mine at a woodworking store. I will tell you, that when you strop, you need to back the leather with something. I lay mine on a bench, or the counter. That way, it has no give, and rounds the edge less. I sometimes polish mine with a stone, but a strop is WAY easier. If you have it to 1000, and it is smoothed out, strop the hell out of it. But you better make sure that you are good on your angle. Otherwise, you can dulll it as well. I am able to get mirror polishes like this. Hope this helps.
 
oh man. all im looking for is a brand and type of compound that i can put on my strop... and where to get it. my strop is good. it is wood backed. the leathers are conditioned propperly. i know how to strop.

whqt do i get. basically, im in the parking lot at the hardware store but i thi k im leaving without anything. i found dico scr. it looks like the high luster stuff is the dico cr1 and they dont have it. should i be making a trip up to harbor freight right now or sears... or home depot... or the auto parts store? and what can i get. not looking for other alternatives today
 
dzlvs8 said:
oh man. all im looking for is a brand and type of compound that i can put on my strop... and where to get it. my strop is good. it is wood backed. the leathers are conditioned propperly. i know how to strop.
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There are several brands. I'm glad you know how to strop. Good luck.
 
dzlvs8 said:
oh man. all im looking for is a brand and type of compound that i can put on my strop... and where to get it. my strop is good. it is wood backed. the leathers are conditioned propperly. i know how to strop.

whqt do i get. basically, im in the parking lot at the hardware store but i thi k im leaving without anything. i found dico scr. it looks like the high luster stuff is the dico cr1 and they dont have it. should i be making a trip up to harbor freight right now or sears... or home depot... or the auto parts store? and what can i get. not looking for other alternatives today
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Dico scr isn't as fine as you'd like I imagine. The cr1 is a pretty high quality chromium oxide that they aren't going to keep carrying much longer. The SCR is more of a middle duty compound - high luster but with a faint haze. The Ryobi white is a pretty fine abrasive - capable of a mirror polish or very close.
 
huh so theres nothing i can put on a strop that i can buy at a local hardware or auto parts store or that will give a mirror polish. oh well. I guess the only option is super mega ultra diamond .0001 micron unobtainium paste... in s35vn. and everything else is crap. I see.
 
dzlvs8 said:
huh so theres nothing i can put on a strop that i can buy at a local hardware or auto parts store or that will give a mirror polish. oh well. I guess the only option is super mega ultra diamond .0001 micron unobtainium paste... in s35vn. and everything else is crap. I see.
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in s35vn? Not following your thought there.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Dico scr isn't as fine as you'd like I imagine. The cr1 is a pretty high quality chromium oxide that they aren't going to keep carrying much longer. The SCR is more of a middle duty compound - high luster but with a faint haze. The Ryobi white is a pretty fine abrasive - capable of a mirror polish or very close.
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Hey HH, I got some Ryobi yellow, and it will shine up an edge pretty dang good. It's for "stainless steels", per the package. Is that the same?
 
It's a function of grit, OP. Stropping compounds polish an edge to a mirror because they are very fine. JDavis (Crimson Tide Shooter here) gets a good polish from the sharpening because of the stone he is using in the videos, a Spyderco 306uf, which is a 3 micron stone. Even finishing with such a fine stone, an edge still benefits from stropping. You can follow that 3 micron stone with 1 micron diamond spray, for example, or green compound for a nice effect and an even cleaner and sharper edge.
 
i thought he said he used a coarse spyderco stone and then a ceramic. i have used lots of crappy ceramic sharpeners and they dont leave a polished edge. i assume his is a lower micron thwt hwhat is normally out there. The video makes more sense now.
 
dzlvs8 said:
I know that chrome car polish will polish the edge. I've used it for an entire knife blade but that was on a buffing wheel.
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Mother's Mag Polish?

Yes, that will mirror polish an edge, and I'm pretty sure you can just smear it on the leather, wait for it to dry off a little bit, and then strop on it.
 
Looks for these at Lowes. They work perfect. I use 1,4 and 5. As does Mothers.

IMG_20130426_171940_219_zpsb0ed7700.jpg

IMG_20130426_172042_810_zpsdd42fa90.jpg
 
Well i got the green crap. While it isn't giving me a true mirror polish it is making my knives sharper. So that's cool. Do people get TRUE mirror polishes from this stuff? I assume that people do and I just need to not stop at 1000 grit before I move to the strop?? Is this correct?
 
For me, if I want a mirror finish "which isn't often" after my stones I'll use the black compound then either the green or Mother's Mag polish. Once you get the hang of it, it is quite easy. Think of it like sand paper. You start at say 320 grit and go to 2000 grit or higher. Some go up to 10,000-20,000 grit.

Find what works for ya. In due time you'll get it.
 
L2bravo said:
Hey HH, I got some Ryobi yellow, and it will shine up an edge pretty dang good. It's for "stainless steels", per the package. Is that the same?
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The yellow is more comparable to the Dico SCR, the white is more fine, probably in the 1u range.
 
camoninja said:
For me, if I want a mirror finish "which isn't often" after my stones I'll use the black compound then either the green or Mother's Mag polish. Once you get the hang of it, it is quite easy. Think of it like sand paper. You start at say 320 grit and go to 2000 grit or higher. Some go up to 10,000-20,000 grit.

Find what works for ya. In due time you'll get it.
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I understand the sand paper concept. Thats why I asked if I wasnt going to a high enough grit stone before moving to the green stuff. I could pick up some black stuff and put it on the other side of my strop. ...However, you didn't mention how far you go up in grit with stones before you move to the strop. Like I said, I am going up to 1000 grit before any compound. It's hard to know what to do, when the specs of the green crap is basically "its green and it makes stuff really shiny" and doesn't list a grit.
 
A 1000 grit stone is not very fine.

Jumping to a ultrafine compound of unknown quality and grit is not helping.

Arkansas stones don't go to extreme levels of finish so several compounds or more stones will be needed in your adventure.

The stuff you get locally is usually for soft metals and will kinda work but nothing like a compound made for sharpening knives. You should look into getting some 1 Micron diamond spray. If you cannot get a mirror edge with 1 Micron diamond spray then everything before needs to be considered.
 
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